Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release Tuesday saying that the pre-election video posted by Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki is inappropriate.
The press release was issued in response to the protest note sent by North Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry via the Macedonian Embassy in Sofia to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.
“The video doesn’t reflect the official position of the Bulgarian government. Bulgaria has no territorial ambitions towards other countries, as expressed on many occasions,” the press release read.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry also said that Dzhambazki’s video was posted following “three days of silence from North Macedonia’s government after being called to distance itself from the slanderous publications of Slovenian NGO – International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies.”
“The government in Skopje has not only failed to condemn the publications in question, but called the institute, which has falsely accused two EU member states: Bulgaria and Germany, ‘reputable’. Moreover, there was complete media blackout in North Macedonia over Bulgaria’s démarche regarding these publications, which shows the extent to which the government of this EU candidate country tolerates pluralism and freedom of speech,” read the press release.
